I Am Healed   Good morning! Today's power scripture comes from Exodus 15:26:  “He said, ‘If you will carefully obey the LORD your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.’” (HCS)

     After the miraculous drowning of the pursuing Egyptian army in the Red Sea, the Israelites were taken into the desert and provided for by the hand of God. They were told that if they kept the statues and commandments that God instituted he would protect them from ailments, diseases, pestilences and similar afflictions that tormented their enemies. The covenant keeping God, Jehovah, promised his children health and well-being.  God wants us to experience this same existence of obedient living and bountiful health. God’s hedge of protection surrounds his children and when we stay gathered under his protective wings we can see problems all around us but they will not assail us.

      There are some simple things that God tells us to do that if we follow them our way of life is so much better. We are instructed to get adequate rest; to resist temptation; to avoid gossip and to love each other.  Avoiding tempting situations would surely lower our stress levels and we probably would be able to rest and sleep better and not be so grouchy; and that might help us treat each other better.

     Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day!  Be blessed!  Dr. JoAnn

Good morning! Today's power scripture comes from Proverb 3:34 – “He will humiliate those who make fun of others, but he is kind to those who are humble.”

       There is a saying – ‘He who laughs last, laughs best’. When gossip or slander or mischief or plain old fashioned bullying produces victims that are the brunt of ridicule the Bible gives concrete advice against making fun of others. Those who might be laughed at in the beginning shall be lifted out of the mire of mockery into a place of rejoicing. We all kid around with our friends and might even share a good, innocent laugh with co-workers or neighbors; but we must be careful that we do not cross the boundary between humor and humiliation.  I have a pretty decent sense of humor and can find something funny in just about everything if given enough time;  but I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time I did use good judgment and kept my mouth shut even though my funny bone was itching.  If we are honest with ourselves we all know of times when we wanted to say something witty but it was inappropriate and the Holy Spirit guided you to keep your mouth closed. What might seem harmlessly funny to us might not be so amusing to the person or persons on the other end of the tease.

      Recently there was a young man from the Detroit, Michigan area, Jahmel Binion, who experienced such shameful treatment from pictures and taunts that were posted on the internet Instagram site. I do not utilize the site but from the news reports it seems that this gentle spirit suffers from a rare skin and soft tissue disease known as ectodermal dysplasia and well known celebrities who should act as role models acted like miscreants instead.  But the young man did not lash out in anger, but remained humble and turned the tables on the would be taunters when he started an anti-bullying campaign called “Hug Don’t Judge” that has now gone viral.  Anyone interested in helping this young man get the word out that God does not make mistakes and that everyone is precious in his sight, email him at [email protected] for more information.  Surely Jahmel will be the one who will laugh last and best.

       Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day!  Be blessed!  Dr. JoAnn

Good morning!   I bring you greetings from Detroit, MI.  It is glorious Friday. Today's power scripture comes from Psalm 111:2-4  (ESV) – “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.”

      We all have examples somewhere swimming around in our consciousness of how good God has been to us.  If we just take a brief moment and allow some of those examples to float to the surface we would relive the awesome splendor of knowing how great God is.  Of all of the eggs and sperms to ever evolve, the one distinct pairing that constituted you had to find themselves in a sea of turbidity.  That’s not chance – that is God.  Of all of the people on the planet, on every head, whether now bald or not, every hair shat has been counted. That’s not circumstantial– that is God.  Of all the shades of the rainbow , the color of your eyes, the tint of your hair and the hue of your skin are not by genetic probability - you are wonderfully and fearfully made. That is God.

     As a biologist who loves to study the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of life; it gives me great joy when I come upon a mystery that baffles my non-believing colleagues.  Where physicists like to ponder, I love to praise.  Where scientists like to speculate, I love to shout. Where chemists like to clamor, I love to clap and cheer.   They have given a name to the space between the infinitesimally small subatomic particles that make up the interior of atoms.  I call it God’s playground. No matter how far out in space we search or how deep within the interior of the earth we plunge, we will never come to the edge of the awesomeness of God.

  Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day! Be blessed! Dr. JoAnn

Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day!  Be blessed!  Dr. JoAnn

Good morning! Today's power scripture comes from Matthew 6:33  (ESV) “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

 

     We use our education and our experience and even our hunches to decide the best courses of action… only to discover that no amount of forethought or critical thinking can outweigh the power of seeking God’s guidance in any situation.  No matter what the toil, trial or challenge, God’s way is always the best way.  No need to try all the other alternatives before we finally give it to God. Our God is a God of FIRSTs.    We offer first fruits…. We pass down special blessings to our first born, so why should we bring our concerns to God last?  We try to fix things ourselves, over and over again; then finally we ask a close friend for their advice.  When that seems like a dead end, we ask other friends and family and eventually we even seek outside advice from self-proclaimed experts, counselors, and even self-help books.

     Don’t’ let intellect overrun intelligence.  Our brains tell us we can figure it out given enough time, but our hearts know that it is best to go to God FIRST and ask for his guidance.  We are not to be so concerned about things; but focus on the main thing. . . the progression of God’s Kingdom here on Earth.

      Everything we need God has already provided. Much like how our parents would shop early for our Christmas gifts and hide them in the house until the appropriate time to reveal them; God has great answers to prayers and wonderful gifts to bestow, often right within reach, but out of view.  He is more concerned with the proper timing than he is with our impatience.  As we continue to seek his righteousness, he moves certain prayer answers or gifts from the attic to the top of a hall closet and eventually when we are ready we will find it sitting right on the kitchen table fully accessible - and we will be able to say that the Lord has prepared a table before us, even in the presence of our enemies, our impatience and our struggling faith.

Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day!  Be blessed!  Dr. JoAnn